Monday: GM Site Eyed By Business

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Manufacturing and "energy related" businesses have expressed interest in the site of the former General Motors plant in Massena, according to the group in charge of cleaning up the site.

An official with the RACER trust declined to provide more details Monday.

(RACER is the name given to the group set up by a federal bankruptcy court to clean up and redevelop former General Motors sites across the country.)

"Through clean up and redevelopment of the site, we hope to have the site contribute to the economic revitalization of the community," said Bruce Rasher, a RACER official.

For decades, GM used hydraulic fluids containing polychlorinated biphenyls, "PCBs," during its manufacturing process in Massena. Those chemicals seeped into the ground and contaminated the industrial property. GM ended operations in Massena in May, 2009.

Clean up of the 217 acre site will be finished in late 2015 or early 2016, according to RACER officials.

"We look at different options, either for retail or industrial. I think the site would be suitable for either of those things," said Town of Massena supervisor Joe Gray.

"We're hopeful and looking forward to some progress," he said.

Further information:

- Not everyone agrees that the clean up is sufficient. Last week, a St. Regis Mohawk activist named Larry Thompson was sentenced for a protest he conducted on the site. Read, watch our story here.

- The RACER trust has an extensive website detailing its goals. See it here.